Reviews studies that have explicitly investigated the "seductive detail" effect (in which a reader's attention is diverted toward the interesting but unimportant seductive details and away from the uninteresting but important main ideas). Concludes that these studies do not provide convincing evidence for the existence of the effect.…

Argues that an article by E. Goetz and M. Sadoski in the same issue of this journal is not only inaccurate in its criticisms but is inconsistent in its claims relevant to the research on the memorability of highly interesting but unimportant textual content, also known as "seductive details." (RS)

Replies to another article in the same issue of this journal concerning research on "seductive details" (in which a reader's attention is diverted toward the interesting but unimportant seductive details and away from the uninteresting but important main ideas). Reasserts that there is insufficient evidence to convict seductive details…

Presents the third part of a six-part series in which the authors respond to a ninth grader's first impressions of "Reel One," a poem by Adrien Stoutenburg. Urges readers to participate by reading the student's impressions and reflecting on the student's interpretations. (MM)

Discusses what makes fantasy writing and science fiction easy. States that, for the writer, science fiction and fantasy allow more freedom to develop the story. Asserts that science fiction allows adolescents to explore their concerns in a seemingly safe and removed way. Notes that it is difficult to write believable and consistent stories for…

Uses examples from mass culture to show the relationship of the continuum theory and the gap theory to the connection between the censorship problem and the educational value of literary reading. (SR)

Shows that organizational metaphors have a significant effect on the way writers think about readers and compose written reports. (SR)

Two experiments involving 285 college students investigated effects of signaling devices (headings, overviews, and summaries) on text memory. Signals produced recalls better organized by text topics. Results support a model in which signals influence readers' representations of a text's topic structure, which in turn guides recall of text content.…

Examines the written responses of Hispanic, African-American and Caucasian elementary students after listening to various African-American stories to see whether engagement with text is related to student's ethnicity. Finds that students were equally capable of engagement in the African-American stories regardless of their ethnicity. (RS)

Distinguishes between macrostructures and microstructures in text, reviews research on the comprehension of text structures, and concludes that both theory and research support the presence of a link between text structure and reading comprehension. (DMM)

Describes how a patient with Borderline Personality Disorder underwent significant regression in response to poetic material during a therapy session. Offers a prototypical questionnaire (Poetic Response Assessment Scale) to assess a patient's response to a particular literary work. (SR)

Discusses the complex issues related to the canon, reading, culture, and schooling that remain to be explored and debated in the study of children's literature and children's responses to literature. Argues that it may be necessary to reexamine why teachers want or expect children and young adults to read in particular ways, and to what ends. (SM)

Describes two experiments that explore the effect of line length and paging versus scrolling on reading from screen. Finds that long lines were read faster than short lines with no change in comprehension and that subject's judgment of reading ease did not correlate with performance. Concludes that further study is needed. (PA)

Looks back at the author's adolescent years and finds that words from songs and from friends helped him survive being a teenager. Notes that his first young adult novel, "Wrestling Sturbridge," was written to help at least a few kids get through adolescence. (RS)

Considers how visual metadiscourse provides design criteria for authors when considering the needs and expectations of readers. Notes the author's discussions of textual metadiscourse in technical writing classes since 1995. Notes an improvement in the cohesion and considerateness of student writing after rethinking their role as writers and the…